Seems like a mismatch to equate an individual period of time (development) to a global event (COVID). These two phases are orthogonal--children are going throug

Seems like a mismatch to equate an individual period of time (development) to a global event (COVID). These two phases are orthogonal--children are going through their development during COVID. I feel that creates a strawman for people supporting measures to reduce spread; that they don't understand children are developing (I suspect teachers know this better than most, anyhow). Viewing the situation considering only development doesn't change this: if the rate of infection stays above one for a long stretch, there will be mass death from overwhelmed hospitals. That's been the balancing act that policy makers are striking. We've seen how that works in practice: restrictions have dropped, as vaccination rates have gone up and seasonal waves have passed. I understand why people might want more support for their children via home or private schooling; that's always been an option for those with means. It highlights that we could definitely use more resources to try to support child development: more teachers for smaller class sizes class, more space in classrooms, better ventilated spaces, expanded remote learning accessibilty, etc. Where I live, schools are asked to do more with less every year. So it's unsurprising to me that they're not super adaptable to major disruptions.